Semper Fi?1 the Infidelity of the Seventh Circuit in Applying a Good Moral Character Requirement to Naturalizing War Veterans
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SEVENTH CIRCUIT REVIEW Volume 2, Issue 1 Fall 2006 SEMPER FI?1 THE INFIDELITY OF THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT IN APPLYING A GOOD MORAL CHARACTER REQUIREMENT TO NATURALIZING WAR VETERANS ∗ JOSHUA P. MONTGOMERY Cite as: Joshua P. Montgomery, Semper Fi? The Infidelity of the Seventh Circuit in Applying a Good Moral Character Requirement to Naturalizing War Veterans, 2 SEVENTH CIRCUIT REV. 380 (2006), at http://www.kentlaw.edu/7cr/v2- 1/montgomery.pdf. INTRODUCTION O’Sullivan v. United States Citizenship and Immigration Service presented the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit with a question of first impression.2 That is, whether “aliens who served honorably in the U.S. military in times of war [must make] a showing of good character when applying to become naturalized citizens.”3 Unfortunately for these veterans, the Seventh Circuit incorrectly interpreted the plain language of the naturalization statutes and held that such aliens must show good moral character before becoming citizens.4 Particularly troubling is the reasoning by which the court 1 Semper Fi is the motto of the Marine Corps and is short for the Latin phrase simper fidelis, which means “always faithful.” http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/HD/ Historical/Customes_Traditions/Marine%20Corps_Motto.htm. ∗ J.D. candidate and Certificate in Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution candidate, May 2007, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology; B.A. Political Science, 2001, University of Arizona. I am deeply indebted to my wife, Stephanie, for all of her support and encouragement throughout my time in law school. 2 453 F.3d 809, 814 (7th Cir. 2006). 3 Id. at 812. 4 Id. at 816. 380 SEVENTH CIRCUIT REVIEW Volume 2, Issue 1 Fall 2006 reached its conclusion.5 In order to provide aliens with this additional hurdle in the naturalization process, the court misquoted a key statute and employed a logic riddled with contradiction.6 Specifically, this Note will contend that the Seventh Circuit erred in O’Sullivan when it held that the standard naturalization requirement that aliens prove “good moral character”7 also applies to aliens seeking to naturalize through statutory exceptions extended to wartime veterans.8 The court should have held that, based on a plain reading of these statutes, a showing of good moral character is not required for wartime veterans to naturalize. Section one of this Note will explain the interaction of the naturalization statutes at issue in O’Sullivan. Section two will explain why the court correctly declined to defer to Citizenship and Immigration Services to interpret these statutes. Section three will describe the background and procedural history of O’Sullivan. Section four will explain the case law cited by the Seventh Circuit in the O’Sullivan decision. Finally, section five will identify errors in the court’s analysis. I. AN INTRODUCTION TO THE IMMIGRATION STATUTES APPLICABLE TO ALIEN WAR VETERANS SEEKING TO NATURALIZE Justice Scalia once noted that “administrative law is not for sissies.”9 This is particularly true when attempting to elucidate consistent meanings from immigration and naturalization statutes, which have been described as a “labyrinthine . maze of hyper- technical statutes and regulations that engender . confusion for the 5 See id. at 815-16. 6 Id. at 815 (misquoting 8 U.S.C.S. § 1427(a) by replacing the word “referred” with the word “mentioned”). 7 8 U.S.C.S. § 1427(a)(3) (LexisNexis 2006). 8 8 U.S.C.S. § 1440(b)(1)-(3) (LexisNexis 2006). 9 Antonin Scalia, Judicial Deference to Administrative Interpretations of Law, 1989 Duke L.J. 511, 511 (Administrative Law Lecture, delivered at Duke University School of Law, January 24, 1989). 381 SEVENTH CIRCUIT REVIEW Volume 2, Issue 1 Fall 2006 Government and petitioners alike.”10 The problem presented in O’Sullivan is particularly difficult: “whether [§] 1440 excuses aliens who served honorably in the U.S. military in times of war from making a showing of good moral character when applying to become naturalized citizens.”11 The difficulty in answering this question stems from the extensive interplay between 8 U.S.C.S. §§ 1427, 1439, and 1440.12 To limit confusion in this Note, the plain language of these statutes is provided in pertinent part below, along with a brief overview of how they interact. A. 8 U.S.C.S. § 1427(a) 8 U.S.C.S. § 1427 details the fundamental residency requirements necessary to become a naturalized citizen of the United States,13 such as the requisite length of time one must be physically present in this country and the different types of absences that are permitted during this period.14 This statute also includes the good moral character component at issue in O’Sullivan.15 Specifically, in relevant part, § 1427 states: (a) Residence. No person, except as otherwise provided in this title, shall be naturalized unless such applicant . (3) during all the periods referred to in 10 Reply Brief of Petitioner-Appellant, at *1, n.1, O'Sullivan, 453 F.3d 809, No. 05-2943, (7th Cir. October 28, 2005) (citing Drax v. Reno, 338 F.3d 98, 99 (2d Cir. 2003)), 2005 WL 3738527. 11 O’Sullivan, 453 F.3d at 812. 12 Boatswain v. Ashcroft, 267 F. Supp. 2d 377, 379 (D.N.Y. 2003) (observing that “[w]ading through the statutory scheme is not a simple task because . the immigration laws are a patchwork, containing numerous inconsistencies and vagaries.”) (internal cites omitted). 13 O’Sullivan v. United States Citizenship & Immigration Serv., 372 F. Supp. 2d 1097, 1100 (D. Ill. 2005) aff’d, 453 F.3d 809, (stating that “[s]ection 1427(a) sets forth the general requirements for naturalization”). 14 8 U.S.C.S. § 1427(a)-(c) (LexisNexis 2006). 15 8 U.S.C.S. § 1427(a)(3); O’Sullivan. 453 F.3d at 812-13. 382 SEVENTH CIRCUIT REVIEW Volume 2, Issue 1 Fall 2006 this subsection has been and still is a person of good moral character, attached to the principles of the Constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.16 The confusion in O’Sullivan “stems from the good character requirement’s placement in the naturalization statute” as a subset of the broader residency requirement.17 The reason this placement is problematic is because the residency requirements of § 1427(a) are not applicable to naturalizing aliens who served in the armed forces during times of war.18 Thus, the question in O’Sullivan is whether the good moral character requirement in § 1427(a)(3), is waived when the broader residency requirements to which it is attached, § 1427(a), are waived.19 B. 8 U.S.C.S. § 1427(e) In its conclusion that alien wartime veterans are required to make a showing of good moral character, the court relied, in part, on 8 U.S.C.S. § 1427(e).20 This section of the naturalization statute allows the Attorney General, when considering an applicant’s moral 21 character, to consider conduct occurring prior to the five year period 16 8 U.S.C.S. § 1427(a) (emphasis added). 17 O’Sullivan, 453 F.3d at 812. 18 8 U.S.C.S. § 1440(b)(2) (LexisNexis 2006) (stating that a “person filing an application under subsection . shall comply in all other respects with the requirements of this title, except that . no period of residence or specified period of physical presence within the United States or any State or district of the Service in the United States shall be required”). 19 O’Sullivan, 453 F.3d at 813. 20 Id. at 815. 21 8 U.S.C.S. § 1427(a)(1) (stating “immediately preceding the date of filing his application for naturalization has resided continuously, after being lawfully admitted for permanent residence, within the United States for at least five years and during the five years immediately preceding the date of filing his application has been physically present therein for periods totaling at least half of that time and who 383 SEVENTH CIRCUIT REVIEW Volume 2, Issue 1 Fall 2006 preceding the filing of a naturalization application.22 Specifically, § 1427(e) states: (e) Determination. In determining whether the applicant has sustained the burden of establishing good moral character and the other qualifications for citizenship specified in subsection (a) of this section, the Attorney General shall not be limited to the applicant’s conduct during the five years preceding the filing of the petition, but may take into consideration as a basis for such determination the applicant’s conduct and acts at any time prior to that period.23 The O’Sullivan court found it particularly persuasive that this section of § 1427 distinguished between “good moral character” and “other qualifications for citizenship.”24 C. 8 U.S.C.S. § 1440(b) 8 U.S.C.S. § 1440 provides aliens that served in the United States military during times of war a short cut to become naturalized.25 This short cut is achieved by waiving the standard residency requirements detailed in § 1427(a) that are otherwise necessary to naturalize.26 Specifically, § 1440(b) provides this exception: has resided within the State or within the district of the Service in the United States in which the applicant filed the application for at least three months”). 22 8 U.S.C.S. § 1427(e) (LexisNexis 2006). 23 Id. 24 O’Sullivan, 453 F.3d at 815. 25 For example, when President George W. Bush issued an executive order that declared “the war against terrorists of global reach” an “armed conflict” it was done “solely in order to provide expedited naturalization for aliens and noncitizen nationals serving in an active-duty status in the Armed Forces of the United States.” Exec.